Loyola `Racism`

April 25, 1990|By Haskell Lurie.

SKOKIE — The Tribune deserves an accolade and writer John Camper warrants an award for his well-written article April 15on the racial tension at Loyola University.

I am reminded of my student days in 1928 when I attended the seminary of De Paul University on Osgood Street, where I was one of three Jewish students. My Jesuit priest professor in English literature, whom I greatly respected, assigned me the role of Shylock in the play ``Merchant of Venice.`` I have never forgotten his comment that I could play the part very well. The class just laughed.

Unfortunately times have changed, and now apparently the classroom will not entertain any levity. It appears that only tension and misunderstanding prevail in the classroom as evidenced by the use of the word ``nigger`` in discussing history. Provocateurs, with an egocentric conception of civil rights, have been given the mantle of activism in sensitive areas which border on destroying a classroom meant to educate. The history of civil rights, the anti-apartheid movements and the Holocaust should be a part of every curriculum. Knowledge requires a degree of absorption from the past; and free expression between faculty and students for an open discussion is necessary to understand history.